


One Simple Sentence

by PrezKoko



Category: Kuroko no Basuke | Kuroko's Basketball
Genre: Angst, Established Relationship, M/M, perceived one-sided love
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-04-29
Updated: 2015-08-06
Packaged: 2018-03-26 09:34:02
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 5,077
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3845926
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/PrezKoko/pseuds/PrezKoko
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>“You should tell him that you love him, Kise-kun,” Kuroko suggests one day.</p>
<p>Kise smiles ruefully. He can’t bring himself to admit that he tells Aomine he loves him every single day.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

“I love you, Aominecch.”

It is 7am, the sun is shining through the bedroom curtains. Kise makes sure he has his brightest smile on his face, even as he switches off the alarm,

Aomine grunts and burrows deeper into the duvet. “It’s too early for this shit.”

\--- 

It’s 9am. Kise’s still in the middle of hair and makeup and the photographer has stormed off in a huff because his assistant dropped his camera. He sends a text to Aomine.

-Nearly ready for my first photoshoot of the day! Love you!-

There is no response.

\---

1pm. Kise manages to get to the office building where Aomine works, just in time for his lunch break.

He goes into the reception only to find that Aomine’s eating out with his colleagues.

He leaves a note on Aomine’s desk.

‘Hopefully next time. Love, Kise.’

\---

8pm, the afternoon’s photoshoot overruns and Kise’s exhausted. He gives Aomine a call.

It goes to voicemail.

“Aominecchi! The photoshoot took too long! I’m going to pick up some food from the convenience store. Is there anything in particular you want?” A pause. “I love you,” he says softly.

By the time Kise gets home, he finds that Aomine has already eaten. But that’s okay, he can eat the extra box tomorrow.

\---

It’s 10pm. Kise’s bracing himself against the shower wall as Aomine thrusts deep into him from behind.

He moans. “Aominecchi! Yes! Ah, ah!”

Aomine comes inside of him as always, and Kise follows suit not long after.

They don’t cuddle. But Kise wraps his arms around Aomine and murmur, “That was great. I love you.”

Aomine’s only reply is a yawn.

\---

They have sex again almost immediately afterwards. Kise pants when they’re done, and stares hard at the ceiling.

He’s 90% sure that Aomine murmurs someone’s name when he cums. He’s 100% sure that name is not his own.

He bites his lip and tries not to cry.

\---

“I love you, Aominecchi,” Kise says the next day. It’s his day off, but Aomine’s still got to go to the office.

He tries to give Aomine a kiss on the cheek but gets pushed away.

“I’m going to be late,” is Aomine’s only response.

“Okay, have a safe trip,” Kise says. He’s starting to find that he no longer cares. It’s as if he’s accepted that this is just how his life will be from now on.

\---

It’s their anniversary.

Kise nearly writes ‘I love you’ on the card. Then wonders if there’s any point.

He writes it anyway. An optimistic hope.

Aomine forgets it’s their anniversary.

Kise reminds him. And it all turns out okay in the end.

Almost okay.

\---

“Hey, Aominecchi,” Kise asks one day. “Do you love me?”

“Don’t ask stupid questions,” Aomine says and pushes him down onto the bed.

The sex is the same as always.

Aomine calls someone else’s name again when he cums.

This time, Kise finds out who it is that Aomine likes so much.

\---

“Kagamicchi, have you ever thought about getting a boyfriend?” Kise asks him the next day.

“What?” Kagami splutters. “I thought you were going to ask about the basketball practise moving to another gym.”

“Of course not. Akashicchi’s always completely thorough with things like that. I got his message about the venue change.”

“Why are you asking if I want a boyfriend then?”

“Hm, just wondering.” He can’t bring himself to say ‘I think my boyfriend wants to have sex with you, are you interested?’

“I’m not really looking for one at the moment,” Kagami replies.

20 minutes later, Kise finishes the conversation. All the while wondering why on earth he even called Kagami about Aomine’s feelings.

\---

“Aominecchi, you love me right?”

“What’s gotten into you lately?”

\---

Kise gives up one day. He’s stroking Aomine’s hair after a great round of sex, pondering about life, when he asks again.

“Aominecchi, do you love me?”

Aomine doesn’t respond immediately, and when he does, his voice is muffled by the pillow. “Why do you keep asking that?” he mumbles.

“Because…” Kise hesitates, then powers on. “Because I love you. And I want to know if you love me back.”

“Stop being so sappy, I’m going to sleep.”

Kise presses his lips together and tries not to cry.

\---

By the time Aomine wakes up the next morning, Kise is already gone.

He takes all his things with him. It’s almost as if the blond had never lived in the apartment at all.

When Aomine sees this, he swears and calls Kuroko.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I was originally going to wait until I finished it before posting...but I just got this weird urge to post something today and this was the closest thing to completion.
> 
> Hope you like, sorry for all the angst. I can't seem to help it, Kise's too adorable.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The word count has turned out a bit higher than expected and I figured it'd be better to keep the chapter lengths consistent. So yeah, it's going to have at least 3 chapters now.

“Why would he just leave all of a sudden?” Kuroko asked calmly.

It was already mid-morning, but he had a feeling that Aomine had only just woken up. Finding that all of Kise’s stuff had disappeared along with Kise himself first thing in the morning did not make for a happy Aomine.

“How the fuck should I know?” Aomine grumbled. There was a hint of worry there, being masked by the irritation, but Kuroko could just about hear it.

“Have you tried calling him?”

“Of course not. What if I say the wrong things? I’ll never find him again.”

Kuroko didn’t understand how that would be possible, considering they all knew where Kise worked and thus could theoretically stake out his work place.

Besides, Akashi had connections.

“Well how about you think of what you say first.”

“How would I know what I should say when I don’t know why he disappeared in the first place?!”

Definite worry. And hurt. Aomine was upset Kise left without a word.

 _I suppose anyone would be upset if their partner did that to them._ Goodness knows what Kuroko would do if Akashi just suddenly disappeared on purpose.

“Try to think of his behaviour in the last few days,” Kuroko suggested just as the doorbell rang. “And then we can go from there. I’ll call you back, someone’s at the door.”

Aomine grumbled something unintelligible on the other end but otherwise did not protest.

Kuroko hung up.

He wasn’t sure who’d be at the door. Sales people rarely go around their neighbourhood at 10am in the morning, and Kuroko was pretty sure neither he nor Akashi had ordered anything lately.

Unless Akashi ordered a surprise.

No, Akashi wasn’t the type to do that. Unfortunately.

Shaking the idea away, Kuroko peeked through the peep hole.

“Ah.”

\---

“Kurokocchi!” Kise wailed the moment Kuroko opened the door. “Aominecchi was mean to me!”

Kuroko grimaced as he was unceremoniously glomped and scanned the ground behind Kise for any signs of luggage. Nothing.

Meaning Kise’s already been somewhere else, dropped off all of his things (Kise had a lot of things) before coming here.

Kuroko wondered how early Kise left. Judging by the thick concealer beneath the blond’s eyes, he would guess too early.

“Morning, Kise-kun. Would you like to come in?”

\---

“In what way was he mean to you?” Kuroko asked when he’s managed to extract Kise from his body.

Kise sniffled a little. Kuroko wasn’t sure whether it was real or fake. Kise was definitely _upset_ at the very least, the melancholy was rolling off him in waves.

“He just…” another sniffle, “we’ve been together for so long. I can’t believe that he would…” a bit of crying, “I just don’t understand it!”

“Kise-kun, that sentence made absolutely no sense whatsoever.”

The blond sighed dramatically. “I don’t really want to talk about it. It’s over anyway.”

Kuroko paused for a moment.

“Does Aomine-kun know that?”

Kise slumped down onto Kuroko’s sofa dejectedly. “I don’t know. I doubt he’d care.”

“Why don’t we ask him,” Kuroko said, pulling his phone back out.

\---

“Aomine-kun,” Kuroko said, “I have located Kise-kun.”

Aomine’s voice was frantic, “Where? Is he okay?”

“He’s fine.”

Aomine audibly sighed in relief.

“He’s at my apartment.”

“...what?”

“I suggest you come over and talk to him.”

\---

It took a bolted door, Kuroko’s refusal to move from said door, and Akashi’s stern command for Kise not to run away.

Including attempting to climb out of the window.

“Kise.” Akashi’s voice booked no arguments. "Sit down. And wait."

Kise wailed some more, but he stayed on the sofa.

\---

Kuroko had been due to hang out with Kagami. And the redhead arrived at the apartment before Aomine, further complicating matters.

“Does this mean I should go home?” Kagami said, looking rather confused after Kuroko explained the situation between Kise and Aomine.

“Hopefully, this won’t take long. Aomine-kun is on his way over right now,” Kuroko said. “I’m sorry for not informing you earlier.”

“It’s fine I don’t mind waiting,” Kagami said, resolving the complication quicker than Kuroko expected. Kagami was useful like that.

\---

“Kise…”

Aomine was out of breath, as if he had just ran all the way here. Or at least all the way from the tube station.

Then again, the tube station was only a few minutes away. There was no way Aomine would have been out of breath for running that tiny distance.

Maybe he jogged on the spot whilst on the train.

 _Or maybe he did run all the way here_ , Kuroko thought as he noted the sweat glistening on Aomine’s neck. Given it was Aomine, it was an entirely possible distance.

“I’m not talking to you,” Kise said, looking resolutely away.

Aomine growled angrily.

“Aomine, sit down,” Akashi ordered from his spot in his armchair. He sipped his tea calmly, as if there wasn’t an attempted breakup of Kise and Aomine’s relationship in the middle of his apartment.

As if his quiet morning, which Kuroko knows for a fact Akashi had been planning on reading that new shogi book he bought, had not been disturbed.

Aomine was still glaring at Kise. However, after a beat, he sat down.

“Now,” Akashi said. “Let’s talk this through like rational adults which you both should be.”

Kagami snorted at that. Kuroko fought the urge to shush him. The other three just ignored it.

"Let's begin with you, Kise," Akashi said as if he was a professional marriage counsellor. "Why did you just leave?"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I think my subconscious didn't trust Aomine to fix things on his own so Kuroko and Akashi appeared...
> 
> Thanks to everybody for their comments! Hope you all liked chapter 2. I'll be working on chapter 3 soon. :)


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm sorry for constantly changing the chapter number count, but this fic really is just taking a lot longer than expected. I thought it'd be done after a couple thousand of words, but I think it's going to be slightly more than that now. This was a pretty quick update at least.

“Let’s begin with you, Kise,” Akashi had said.

Even though these were all technically his closest friends, Kise wasn’t entirely sure he was comfortable with voicing his relationship problems in front of them.

In fact, being fixated on how Aomine have never said the words ‘I love you’ seemed to be a rather petty problem. Even if it felt like a stab through the gut every time Aomine refused.

That was why Kise chose to mention the more obvious wrong-doing.

He glanced briefly at Kagami, slightly guilty that he’s been dragged into this, but it was Aomine’s fault.

And if Aomine was in love with Kagami he’d rather they just get together so he could try and piece back his life.

 _A life you shattered yourself, by leaving instead of facing the problem_ , a traitorous part of his mind said. He squashed it down. Everyone knows that an unbalanced relationship wasn’t a relationship at all.

What else was he supposed to do anyway. Aomine clearly didn’t want him.

Kise shook those thoughts away too. Akashi was still staring at him. And Akashi’s stares, even without the heterochromia, could be very unnerving.

He decide to just get it over and done with. “He says Kagamicchi’s name when we have sex.”

There was a stunned silence. Kise watched as Aomine stiffened before looking guiltily away.

Any minute hopes Kise had that he had _somehow_ misunderstood the situation shattered.

Along with his heart.

Then again, his heart had been in pieces to begin with. It had been for months, no matter how many times he tried to glue it back together through willpower alone.

So distracted by Aomine’s reaction, Kise completely missed the glare Kuroko had cut across at Akashi.

He also missed the way Kagami spluttered in a mix of disbelief and confusion. “What do you man he says my name?” Kagami’s voice was strangled.

“You like him right?” Kise found himself talking over the redhead, found that more tears were welling up in his eyes. He’d cried the entire morning already, but clearly there were plenty left inside of him to shed. “If you like him so much why don’t you just go out with him instead.”

Aomine still wasn’t meeting his eyes, staring to the side with a blush strong enough to be noticeable despite his dark skin.

“You never ever tell me you love me either,” Kise went on without meaning to. “You never say it, however many times I say it to you. I thought you just needed time. B-but, but then-” he broke of into a sob and tried desperately to get back into control.

Aomine was looking at him now. And his entire expression was one of devastation.

Devastation and guilt.

“Kise…” Aomine began and he steeled himself for those words that will end it. But Aomine didn’t continue, just rubbed the back of his neck and frowned in frustration.

And suddenly, Kise couldn’t take it anymore. Now that both Kuroko and Akashi were sitting down, the way to the door was free. Kise dashed to it before he could change his mind. Before he started spouting rubbish like how he didn’t mind being second best as long as he could be a part of Aomine’s life.

That would hardly be a healthy relationship either. Besides, Kise still had some pride left.

He tore out of the house before anyone could react and practically flew down the emergency staircase, away from the building.

\---

“Kise!”

“Kise-kun!”

Both Kuroko and Aomine had stood up, but the front door slammed before either had even properly walked away from his seat. Aomine sighed and slumped back down on the sofa.

Kagami figured now was as good a time as any to ask. “Do you actually say my name during sex or do you say something else and he misheard?” _Please let it be something else. Please let it be something else._

“I say your name,” Aomine said tiredly, as if Kise running away had drained him of all energy.

Kagami shifted awkwardly, wondering if he should ask ‘why?’ or just take it as a compliment.

“It’s not what you’re thinking, Kagami-kun,” Kuroko said. He was glaring at Akashi again, and chastised him disapprovingly. “I _told_ you that wasn’t a good idea. And you told Aomine-kun anyway.”

Akashi did not even look abashed, taking a sip of his tea. “It was merely a suggestion. I did not think he would actually say someone else’s name aloud.”

Clearly Kagami was missing something.

“What’s going on?” he demanded.

“A while ago, Aomine came to Kuroko with a problem,” Akashi began.

“H-hey hey, you’re not actually going to tell Bakagami are you?”

“Would you rather Kagami think you’re lusting after him?”

Aomine spluttered.

“I thought not,” the former captain said, turning back to Kagami. “A while ago Aomine came to Kuroko with a problem regarding premature ejaculation.”

Kagami snorted.

“It is _not_ premature! Satsuki says premature is if it happens under one minute. I last way longer than 1 minute,” Aomine yells, blushing really badly now. He had also jumped up to defend himself. “You weren’t even supposed to have known about it.”

“That is unfortunately what happens if you asks my boyfriend for advice in our shared apartment without any attempt at being quiet,” Akashi said calmly.

Aomine swears at him. “As if. You were just eavesdropping.”

“That is a vulgar accusation.”

“The _point_ is,” Kuroko interrupted them before the argument could truly escalate. “Aomine had been having problems and, despite my objections to the idea, Akashi-kun suggested Aomine-kun think of someone he would least like to have sex with as a distraction.” Kuroko went back to glaring at his boyfriend. “Perhaps now you’d listen when I say such actions are likely to do more harm than good.”

Akashi took a sip of his tea. There might have been a slightly bashful side-glance but Kagami couldn’t be sure.

“In fact, there’s no evidence that distracting oneself would cure premature ejaculation,” Kuroko continued. “Especially imagining another sexual partner.”

“It is not premature ejaculation,” Aomine mumbled, having slumped down onto the sofa again.

Kagami was still having a hard to wrapping his head around all this. “So...that’s why you’d sometimes say my name during sex?”

“Yeah.”

“To distract you from the sex.”

“Obviously. Why else would I say it?”

“Oh.” Well that was not flattering at all. “Why don’t you go after Kise and tell him then?”

Aomine scoffed. “As if he’d believe me.”

“Sure he will. You’re an idiot after all.”

Aomine didn’t even rise to the bait. He just sat there, slouched back against the sofa and staring up at the ceiling. “There’s no point. He probably hates me now.”

“Well that’s no reason,” Kagami began, but he could tell that Aomine wasn’t listening.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So yes, mystery solved. Basically, both Kise and Aomine are idiots. But mostly Aomine.
> 
> A couple of you lovely commentators had mentioned a fear of AoKaga. I hope this will put your hearts at ease because this fic is nowhere near the AoKaga ship.
> 
> Also, I love comments. I really do. But I would really appreciate it if no one leaves snarky comments asking why this fic has not been finished or requests for me to update soon. I think chapter 3 was finished quicker than chapter 2 because there were less 'update soon!' and 'why hasn't this been updated?' comments than chapter 1. (Well, that and my laptop broke shortly after posting chapter 1)
> 
> Until next time~


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you so much for all the lovely comments! It really made my day. :D Not to mention extremely motivating.
> 
> I hope you'll like this chapter. It's been a while since I've posted another chapter of a fic within a week! Hope you all like it.

They all sat there in silence until Kuroko heaved a sigh. “Aomine-kun.”

Aomine ignored him, covering his eyes with a forearm. Part of him wanted to cry. He couldn’t believe he was going to lose Kise just because...just because of a stupid reason like this.

“Aomine-kun, look at me,” Kuroko said again, pulling Aomine’s arm away and forcing him to sit up.

Kuroko’s eyes were intense. Not unlikely how they had been when his basketball team defeated Aomine for the first time in his life.

“Aomine-kun, how would you feel if Kise-kun starting moaning Kagami’s name during sex.”

“I don’t moan,” Aomine snapped immediately. Then the actual meaning of the sentence caught up with him.

He growled and stalked over to where Kagami was still leaning against the wall.

“The fuck have you been doing with my boyfriend?” Aomine said, grabbing Kagami by his shirt.

Kagami pushed back against him. “I haven’t done anything! You’re the one who’s been using my name as your stupid ‘turn-off’ charm!”

They wrestled that way for a few moments until Akashi’s authoritative command put an end to it.

“Daiki.” Akashi’s voice was cold. The same type of cold as when he had a split personality.

Aomine shivered and slowly turned towards his former-captain.

The redhead didn’t have a glowing yellow eye, meaning he was deliberately using this tone.

Aomine gulped.

“Daiki. Ryouta is currently hurting. You need to go and prove your affections for him.”

That snapped Aomine out of the instilled fear.

“How am I supposed to do that?” he yelled. His fist were still balled up in Kagami’s shirt, and he felt the other’s hands gripping at his arm.

“By being completely honest and truthful.”

Aomine didn’t want to do that. It was too embarrassing.

“You have to swallow your pride, Aomine-kun,” Kuroko continued, finishing Akashi’s thoughts like the lovey-dovey couple they were. “Kise-kun used to really doubt whether you liked him or just put up with him while you wait for someone better to come along. I thought, after so many years together, you’d have gotten past that. But apparently not.”

“Go and work it out,” Akashi said.

“Yeah! And let go of my shirt while you’re at it!”

Reluctantly, Aomine headed towards the front of the apartment, but then promptly turned back around. “How do I even find him?” he asks, ignoring the way it sounded like a cowardly excuse.

Akashi and Kuroko both levelled him unimpressed looks.

“Momoi(-san),” they said in unison.

Aomine was starting to think they were spending far too much time with each other.

\---

Momoi did indeed know where Kise went. For a moment, Aomine wondered why she hadn’t replied earlier when he’d asked. When he’d called Kuroko in desperation at the way Kise had disappeared.

She was replying now. Giving him directions to a chic little cafe he would never have set foot in otherwise.

Turned out, he didn’t need to. Kise was sitting on one of the tables outside, staring miserably into his cup of coffee.

For a moment, Aomine lost his nerve. But Kuroko’s words were still ringing in his ears and as nervous as he was (and as awkward as this conversation was definitely going to go), he knew he couldn’t back down.

Kise had already moved out of their shared apartment without warning. Aomine couldn’t risk him suddenly cutting him from his life.

There were a few giggling girls on the street debating whether they should go talk to the famous model. And Aomine could see the waiters of the cafe giving the blond furtive side-glances.

He ground his teeth together, feeling the fingers of jealous grip his emotions.

Ignoring the waiter who asked how many seats he needed, Aomine practically swaggered to Kise’s table and plonked himself down opposite.

\---

To say Kise was surprised that Aomine was suddenly in front of him would be an understatement. He stared as his boyfriend - his ex-boyfriend - frowned at him, an unreadable expression on his face.

“Aominecchi…” Kise found himself uttering. Because apparently he couldn’t resist breaking awkward silences, even when it was with the guy who had repeatedly broken his heart.

Aomine didn’t reply right away. And then...did Kise imagine it or did Aomine just swallow nervously. He must have imagined it, Aomine never got nervous.

“Hi Kise,” Aomine said, gruffly.

“How did you-?”

“Satsuki told me,” Aomine interrupted, cutting off Kise’s question.

Before Kise could so much as utter a surprised sound that Momoi apparently knew where he was at any point in time, Aomine said, “We need to talk. Don’t run away this time.”

Kise bit his lip lightly. That was admittedly a bit cowardly of him, but he just couldn’t bear to hear the rejection he knew was coming.

He looked down at his coffee.

There was an audible sigh from opposite him which Kise ignored.

“I’m sorry.”

That made Kise’s head snap up involuntarily. Did Aomine just apologise?

Aomine was staring intently at him. But...yes, that was definitely nerves. And dread too. Kise wondered briefly what Aomine had to be nervous about.

Unless it was because Aomine didn’t want to hurt his feelings by rejecting him. Kise felt himself smile sadly. It was a little late for not having his feelings hurt.

“It’s okay,” he found himself saying. Then he too was taking a breath to calm himself.

And maybe to hold back the tears that were threatening again. “I’d just,” a painful swallow, “I’d just rather you get it over with.”

Aomine nodded, eyes glancing down at the table. Then he looked at Kise again, seemingly gathering up his courage.

Kise steeled himself.

“I’m sorry for making you think I’ve been wanting Kagami.”

That...was not what Kise had been expecting.

Before Kise could respond to that however, Aomine was already speaking. “I wasn’t-” Aomine cut himself off. “It’s not what it-” he cut himself off again, then sighed in frustration, looking away and rubbing the back of his head. “This is hard.”

“I don’t understand,” Kise blurted out.

Aomine was gripping the table, and he spoke as if every word uttered pained him. “I’ve been having problems. When we’ve...when we’ve _done it_.”

Kise wouldn’t really have called lusting after someone to be a ‘problem’. It was more a ‘sign’ than anything else. But he waited for Aomine to continue. “Okay?”

“I can’t…” an intake of breath. An exhale. Then, with an extremely determined expression, Aomine blurted his explanation out. “I have a problem controlling my ejaculations when I have sex with you.”

“Huh?”

\---

“I have a problem controlling my ejaculations when I have sex with you,” Aomine repeated slowly. Forcing the words out. Forcing himself to say it properly. He didn’t dare look at Kise.

Except Kise wasn’t responding. So, after a few moments of tortured silence, Aomine glanced up.

Kise was staring at him.

Aomine squirmed in his seat.

Eventually, the blond spoke.

“You mean to say,” a frown temporarily marred the pretty face.” You mean to say that you have a problem with premature ejaculation.”

“It’s not premature!” Aomine automatically snapped back. “It lasts longer than a minute. And longer than that if I…” he coughed, “er, if I distract myself with thoughts of something else.”

Kise was still frowning. “But you say his name when you’re coming. How does that work?”

Pushing away his daydream of being swallowed up by the earth so he doesn’t have to continue this conversation, Aomine somehow managed to answer. “That just slips out when I’m trying my hardest to hold it in.”

Not that it helped any. Aside from making Kise upset.

Kise was looking into his coffee contemplatively. And then he sighed.

"You know, Aominecchi. If you were having trouble with premature ejaculation, we could have just used a cock ring..."

"..." Aomine made a note to ask Momoi how on earth a decorative ring for cocks was supposed to help premature ejaculation.

“Anyway, that doesn’t explain why you never tell me you love me,” Kise said to break the awkward silence. There was a slightly indignant expression on his face, which was a rare expression for Kise. Rare and cute. Aomine had the sudden urge to kiss him.

An urge he pushed down. He may be an idiot, but even he could tell that kissing Kise instead of answering him would probably have the opposite effect of what he wanted.

Kuroko had said Kise used to doubt his feelings. And Aomine supposed it made sense. But, he had never been one for fancy words and loving exclamations.

Not to mention…

It was his turn to sigh. He looked down at his lap and resigned himself for what he’s about to say.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Semi-cliffy at the end, but well, the next chapter is the last one. I'm going to be a bit busy this weekend so I might not be able to update so quickly again. Am definitely working on it though!
> 
> Personally, I felt this chapter was a little rushed, but I have no idea if it's just because I've been in a bit of an impatient mood lately. Especially with this fic. It had started as a one-shot if you can believe that! And now it's one of the first of my fics to reach 4 chapters lol.


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for the lovely comments to those who wrote them. I got a lot less for chapter 4 than chapter 3, but they really helped motivate me into finishing the fic instead of giving up now that the main mystery had been solved.
> 
> I hope you all like this final chapter. :)

“Do you remember your first girlfriend?” Aomine began. He paused there, trying to gauge Kise’s reaction.

The blond grimaced. “The shallow one who dumped me for Shougo. I remember.”

“You told her you love her every day.”

Kise blinked in surprise. “Did I?”

“You did.”

“I didn’t mean it.”

“I know,” Aomine said. “But you still told her you love her every day.” He looked down and clenched his hand together. To be honest, until a year ago, he still had doubts. It was stupid, but he still had doubts.

He took a breath, and looked back into Kise’s slightly confused eyes. “When we started going out. You told me you love me right away.”

“...Aominecchi…”

“To be honest, I wasn’t sure you even meant it. I thought it was just something…” there was a lump in his throat. Why was there a lump in his throat? He swallowed hard. “I thought it was just something you say to people you go out with.”

“It’s not just something I say! I really meant it when I confessed.” Kise exclaimed.

Aomine looked him right in the eye. “How was I supposed to know that? How was I supposed to know the difference?”

That was apparently the wrong thing to say. Kise stood up so quickly, his chair fell to the floor. Palms slammed against the tabletop. “So now it’s my fault? Because I told you so often you don’t think I meant it? If you were worried why didn’t you ask me about it?!”

Aomine grimaced. He really should have asked. But by the time he gathered up the courage for it, he had already stopped doubting Kise’s feelings for him. He figured that it would have been the same the other way around. He had been happy that he didn’t have to say silly words for the two of them to understand what they shared.

_“Kise-kun used to really doubt whether you liked him or just put up with him.”_

It was the most frustrating misunderstanding ever. But…

Akashi told him to be honest and truthful.

Kuroko told him to swallow his pride.

“I didn’t want to know the truth at first,” he admitted. “But I eventually stopped doubting you meant it.”

“But then-” Kise began, starting to look confused again. Aomine cut him off.

“I hate fancy confessions. And I like how we were together even without me having to say silly cliche lines.”

“They’re not silly-”

Aomine cut him off again. “Before I knew it. I couldn’t say those words at all. I’d freeze when I thought of it. I’d think back to how you’d throw that sentence left right and center during school.”

He looked down in shame. It hadn’t seemed to be a problem. But clearly it had been hurting Kise all this time.

“I couldn’t make myself say them back, even when you asked.” He huffed self-derisively, giving the blond an abashed grin. “You know, I thought you were just having fun goading me about it. I didn’t think you were serious.”

“I-”

“I’m sorry. Ryouta.”

Kise stared. In all their times together, as teammates and as lovers, Aomine had never used his firstname.

“I’m sorry. I know the easiest way is to just confess back. But it’s not that easy for me. Not anymore. Not without it feeling fake.” Another glance back down at clenched hands. “I really thought you knew how I felt without me having to say it. I’m sorry for being unreasonable.”

A sob broke his monologue.

Tears were streaming down Kise’s face.

“Wha-? Hey, why are you crying?” Aomine said, getting up in worry.

It was a good thing the outside seats were empty at this time of the day. Or the cafe might have kicked them out by now.

Without warning, Kise launched himself at Aomine. He barely caught him in time.

“H-hey…”

“Stupid Aominecchi!” Kise cried. “Stupid! Why don’t you tell me these things?”

“I’m telling you now!” Aomine snapped.

“And then you start using my firstname without warning,” Kise continued to sob into his chest. “And you even apologise. Aominecchi never apologises.”

“Well it’s important! You’ve been thinking all this time that I don’t-” he cut himself off. It was stupid, even in such a drastic situation he still couldn’t admit his feelings verbally.

“Aominecchi,” Kise said, suddenly wrapping his arms around him and hugging him close. “I love you.”

Aomine stiffened.

“It’s okay, you don’t have to say it back. I just wanted to tell you. And I mean it.”

Aomine nuzzles against Kise’s neck in response.

“I do feel the same,” he finally murmured by Kise’s skin. “I do. Don’t ever doubt that.”

It might seem like an excuse to others, but Kise had never felt surer of Aomine’s affection in his life.

It was only three little words. He didn’t need to be so hung up on them. Now that his heart has been calmed, ‘I love you’ was only one simple sentence.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> FINISHED! IT'S FINISHED!!!
> 
> This is the first time I've finished a multi-chaptered fic on Ao3! I'm so happy!! *sobs happily*
> 
> Last chapter was just wrapping up lose ends, but boy do I love writing dialogue. It's just so fun. Even though I need to work on giving the characters distinct voices.
> 
> This chapter was a bit short. And I did kind of want to add a sex scene in there somewhere but I'm not actually feeling all that well at the moment. That and I thought this was a nice way to finish it.
> 
> If I did have a sex scene, it would have been a bit into the future. That ends with Aomine finally saying 'I love you' back to Kise!! But like I said I like how the fic ended here so I think I might just leave it. So yeah, no AoKise smexing~
> 
> I've been tempted to write an AkaKi fic lately too so it might be a while before I write any AoKise smexing lol. Who knows!
> 
> I'm still reeling that this fic is actually FINISHED! WOHOO!!!


End file.
